Superspeed X-Ray Gets Images 27x Faster than Current Methods

Scientists studying materials at the atomic level can either take a picture to see where things are or use light to figure out the chemical details of what they are looking at.

Doing both at the same time usually requires bulky equipment and a massive headache trying to align everything.

An international team of researchers from Germany, Switzerland, and Japan has found a clever way around this problem. They proved that a single nanostructured mirror can handle both jobs at once.

Ditching the Extra Gear

The team did their testing at the PETRA III synchrotron radiation source at DESY in Hamburg. They used a reflection zone plate, or RZP. It is a precise, reflective optic that simultaneously focuses and splits soft X-rays.

Instead of moving a sample bit by bit in a slow grid, the team swept a line of X-rays across test patterns. They stitched the slices together on a computer, hitting resolutions between 14 and 24 micrometers. For circular shapes, this line scan was about 27 times faster than old point-by-point methods.

Scientists used to think this setup would blur the picture because of a 19th-century optics rule called the Abbe sine condition. By keeping the X-ray angles tight, the team kept distortion at bay.

“Our experiments show that an RZP can provide both spatial and spectroscopic information using a compact optical arrangement,” said Dr. Jens Rehanek. “This could make advanced soft X-ray measurements more efficient and easier to implement.”

“The strong dispersion of the RZP allows several spectroscopic features to be measured simultaneously,” said Dr. Christoph Braig. “Importantly, both the elastic and inelastic signals can be recorded in the same optical configuration.”

A Quicker X-Ray

To see how it handled real materials, the team shot the X-ray line through a tiny liquid stream of acetonitrile and ethanol. The beam spread into a rainbow of light energies, allowing the detector to capture both input and output signals at once.

The whole scan took just 220 seconds.

“By combining reflection, focusing, imaging, and spectral dispersion in one optical element, the method offers a compact and efficient route to soft X-ray spectromicroscopy and opens new opportunities to investigate matter on the atomic scale,” said the last and corresponding author, Zhong Yin from SRIS of Tohoku University, who led the international study.

Because RZPs are built directly onto solid silicon rather than thin membranes, they hold up well under intense light. As a result, they’re a great match for next-generation lasers and laboratory X-ray setups in the U.S. and around the world.